Felting my Soap Bar

I was intrigued by a video I found called, 'Wet Felting Wool over Soap' by www.crunchyparent.com. So I added it to the Working with Felt forum to share with other feltmakers. Here it is...



It's very easy to follow... and although I knew how the felting process would work, I wondered what a felted soap bar would be like to use... I've never heard of it before.

Off I went to the supermarket and got myself a bar of vegetable soap and brought it home where I gathered some natural shades of my shetland batting I bought at Woolfest (I now stock combed tops in my craft shop, which would work just as well)... the shades are so earthy!

I boiled the kettle and thought to myself, can I get away with doing this in front of the telly? There was a good black and white on, so why not... this might take a while!

I quickly realised I might be better at the kitchen sink after all... soapy suds and my sofa just won't mix!

Just to show it doesn't always go too well... after about 30 minutes one of my top layers of wool decided it just didn't want to play... 30 minutes in... how rude!!

I had a spare dry felting needle with me, so I quickly poked back in what I could and cut off the rest... didn't realise it would leave my finished work with a hole... still at least the boyfriend will know it's actually soap and not another handmade bathroom ornament!

If I turn it over though, I don't think it looks too bad for a first attempt... even looks quite stone like... I'm thinking Dartmoor rock!

Now to test it out... I've not used wool soap before, so I think I will stick to just washing my hands with it... don't want a wool rash!

Will be interesting to see how the wool shrinks further as the soap washes away.

Sara x
http://www.sarastexturecrafts.fusiveweb.co.uk/

Here's where to find rovings for your soap project... Sara's Texture Crafts.

This post will be reprinted on my social network for feltmakers... Working with Felt'.